Starbucks is upgrading Powermat charging pads to support iPhone 8, iPhone XPowermat, whose wireless chargers are used in thousands of Starbucks locations, is upgrading its software to support the Apple-preferred Qi charging standard.
Powermat chargers, which up until now only complied with the PMA wireless charging standard, are getting an upgrade in the wake of the debut of the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus and iPhone X. No physical changes will need to be made in order to add Qi support - it's the software of the charging pads that will be updated. Powermat Chief Technical Officer Itay Sherman described the difference between the two standards in a conversation with SlashGear on Thursday:
We have the charge spot itself, and the charge spot is two parts: one part is the kinetic part, which drives the power, and the other part is the controller which controls the power transfer. We've designed the magnetic part to be as generic as possible to cover all standards if possible … If there's a new standard, a new variant of the standard —you have PMA, yo...
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Starbucks is upgrading Powermat charging pads to support iPhone 8, iPhone X
